It has long been recognized that fertility levels are influenced by nuptiality patterns, particularly by the age at marriage and proportions of people marrying. Scholars have advanced hypotheses to explain the "European" marriage pattern of late marital age and high celibacy rates, but these hypotheses are incongruent with the data from Spain. This study proposes an intensive examination of nuptiality in a Spanish agro-town. The research covers all those aspects of nuptiality having an impact on the timespan during which women are exposed to the risk of pregnancy. This includes looking at the incidence of permanent celibacy, the age at marriage, and the reproductive period spent after or between unions (as with widow remarriage and conjugal separation). Nuptiality data will be examined comparatively across various socioeconomic strata and over time. In this way, we hope to resolve some of the pressing controversies concerning the influence of living standards and economic development on marital patterns. The data will also be grounded in a thorough ethnography of the study community, which promises to uncover heretofore unrecognized cultural determinants of nuptiality. Research methods are designed to attack the problem from a combination of traditional demographic and anthropological techniques. Such an interdisciplinary approach is essential if we are to get beyond mere correlational statements regarding nuptiality to the realm of actual causation.